A decade in the making, the massive, $140 million transit-oriented development across from Wrigley Field is finally underway.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined developers and Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) in breaking ground on Addison & Clark, a long-awaited mixed-use development formerly known as Addison Park on Clark.

Emanuel heralded the project as a “great example” of what the transit-oriented development ordinance was designed to encourage. Combined with the Chicago Cubs’ renewed investment in Wrigley Field, the city’s focus on transit-oriented developments is key to economic growth, the mayor said.

“That certainty and that growth allows us to continue to meet the obligations to our residents so we actually to have the resources to enhance the quality of life throughout the city of Chicago,” Emanuel said.

The Mexico-based Cinemex theater chain will open its first Chicago movie theater in the complex, developers announced Thursday. Operating as CMX, it’s the seventh-largest theater chain in the world with 300 theaters.

The mainstream theater will arrive in a neighborhood mostly known for its small, eclectic theaters like Mercury Theater and Music Box Theater.

It can be difficult to find screenings of major movies in the neighborhood, although The Vic’s Brew and View and the Landmark Theater serve as solid options.

Developers expect to announce another large-scale tenant for the upper level of the complex in the next couple months. A health club or entertainment business like a bowling alley would be ideal uses for the two remaining spots, said Tony Rossi, president of M&R Development.